


Crow and the Monster

by hito_ritabi



Series: NTN [29]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Fantasy, Magical, Sea monster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 21:26:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16648109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hito_ritabi/pseuds/hito_ritabi
Summary: Crow is ready to renounce Tengyi's powers, and to do so, another god needs to purify him.





	Crow and the Monster

Will covered his mouth with one hand, turning his face away slightly as his shoulders shook, a train of giggles coming from his trembling body. His cheeks were bright red, his eyes half-lidded, but focused on Crow standing several feet away from him.

 

Crow turned to look at him, his own face red. “Hey! Stop laughing! It's not funny!” He was standing there dressed in a pair of loose fitting beige shorts that hung low on his hips, ending just above his knee. His feet were wrapped in thin leather bands attached to a piece of leather that barely passed for a sandal. The rest of him was bare, save for a necklace of tiny snail shells hanging over his collarbone.

 

It was his naked handsomeness that was making Will giggle. Crow didn't expect having to change into something as revealing as this when he asked Hydros for help, and the blush on his cheeks was the proof of it.

 

“I-I'm not.” Will choked out between giggles, pressing his hand harder to his lips, trying to hide his smile.

 

“Focus, Crow.” Hydros lectured, waving her hand at Crow's face to get his attention back. “You'll have to be entirely committed to it, or the purification won't take.”

 

“It's hard to focus with a chuckling person standing ten feet behind you,” he said, looking over his shoulder back at Will. The embarrassed look on his face refreshed Will's giggles, the young man shutting his eyes. A moment later, Will opened them to take in the sight of Crow's back, chest, and arms – his muscles looking oddly toned and sexy in a way that was different when he was wearing his usual clothing.

 

“This door will take you to Basil's lake. It's atop an inactive volcano. You'll find the instructions there.” Hydros crossed both her arms in front of her face, a sly smile on it, and snapped her fingers. Behind her a door made of oak that looked rather unimpressive manifested.

 

Crow looked at the door, then back at Will. When he looked back at Hydros to say something, she was gone. He closed his eyes, listening to Will trying to suppress his giggles for a moment, then he took a deep breath that stretched his ribcage. _Now I know how Will felt in the tub earlier._ Upon opening his eyes, Crow walked forward to the door. Will took a cautious breath, any motion of breathing wrong would stir his giggles back up, and he stepped up beside Crow. Crow looked at him. _Will he start laughing again?_ But he ended up smiling at Will as he placed his hand on the doorknob. “We'll be in and out.”

 

“Right.” Will nodded to him, giving him a smile that wasn't attached to any laughter.

 

Crow tried the knob, losing his balance as the door unexpectedly opened inward. “Didn't expect that.”

 

The two stepped through, leaving the door open. They were standing atop a mountain with trees all around it, in a warm tropical region. All around the base of the mountain was the ocean, blue and calm, as far as the eye could see. The air was muggy and hot, smelling of sea salt. The two could hear sea birds chattering down at the base of the mountain where it met the ocean, and island birds singing through the trees.

 

Will shut his eyes and took in a breath of the ocean air. “It smells different.”

 

“Won'er where we are.” Crow mused, putting a hand on his hip. He stepped away from the door, looking around to the trees and ocean. They were pretty high up, but not enough that the wind whipped their faces harshly.

 

Will looked around, spotting a pool of water steaming barely fifteen feet away, and a wooden sign posted in the ground before it. Curious, he stepped over to read it. “It says you need to 'discard all worldly possessions before being purified.'”

 

“Isn't that the whole point of me changing clothes into some rags Hydros gave me?” Crow asked, turning to him. He gawked at the water. “That is no lake. That's barely as big as a swimming pool!” His voice squeaked. “I've trained in larger bodies of water as a knight!”

 

Will frowned, tilting his head to the side. “I thought Hydros said this was an inactive volcano.”

 

“Yeah?” Crow asked, walking over to Will's side. “So?”

 

“If it's steaming, like a hot spring, doesn't that imply it's active in some manner?”

 

Crow shrugged, frowning at him. “Dunno.” He took a breath. “But, I'm here anyway.” He pointed over Will's shoulder to the sign. “Think I fit the bill?”

 

PURIFYING LAKE GODDESS

Cursed, Possessed, Unlucky, Lame, Ill

Forego all Worldly Possessions

Step into the Water

 

“Oh,” Will looked up to Crow, turning so he was kneeling more comfortably now. “ _Invictus_.”

 

“Right.” Crow nodded, straightening up.

 

As Crow shut his eyes, moving both his hands to his right ear to remove the earring cuff and stud, Will watched him quietly. Once he was almost done, Will asked. “If you're giving up all of the minis powers, what'll you do with  _Invictus_ ?”

 

“I haven't…really thought about it.” Crow answered honestly, opening his eyes, dropping his hands down, the earring removed. He bobbed his head to the side with his shoulders shrugging. “Would you think poor of me if I hung on to it for a while?”

 

“No.” Will looked down to Crow's left hand as he held it out to Will. Responding, Will lifted both his hands and cupped them together under Crow's. Crow dropped the earring into Will's hands, then stepped around him and sign.

 

“It's hard to decide where's a safe place for it, you know?” Crow asked, stepping into the water with the sandals on.

 

“Yeah,” Will answered softly.

 

Once Crow waded into the center of the pool, the water up to his chest, he looked around curiously. Nothing magical akin to the minis's powers was happening. “Maybe I'm supposed to submerge?” He asked aloud. Crow took in a deep breath and relaxed his knees, dunking forward until his entire body was in the water.

 

Immediately the entire island shook. Startled, Crow popped back up, gasping for air. The island shook again.

 

“Crow!” Will yelped.

 

The water surrounding Crow turned a dark blue, glowing cyan lines appearing across its surface into the shape of an otherworldy glyph.

 

“Fucking hell.” Crow got up with a start, turning around and trying to run back to the shore where Will waited. “Toss me the sword!” He ordered.

 

Just as Crow jumped forward out of the water, tumbling next to Will, their hands clasped together, a large mouth of a dragon shot forth up out of the pool. Crow turned around onto his knees, the earring taken from Will's hand and transformed into a sword clenched tight in Crow's left hand. He gawked.

 

The monster dragon just kept rising. It's teeth were smooth and spaced like a carnivorous whale from much colder waters, it's scales glistened shades of blue and green. The dragon had a large head, big enough to eat Crow whole, but a short neck, it's rib cage appearing shortly after. On either side of its ribs were two flippers the length of a human. As the dragon rose up, Crow moved his right arm over Will's chest.

 

_Do we run or attempt to attack it? Fuck, it just keeps getting bigger!_

 

The dragon finally emerged fully from the water, flying above them at a full length of over twenty-four meters long.

 

Will gaped, clinging to Crow's arm. “We-we-we need to get out of h-h-here.”

 

“No time.” Crow answered back as the dragon opened its maw and let out a roar that sounded more like a bird's shrill cry as if it just discovered its babies were eaten. The two yelped, shutting their eyes tight, Will moving one hand to cover one of his ears.

 

By the time they reopened their eyes, the dragon's maw was open and bearing down on them. Crow raised  _Invictus_ high, ready to piece the monster's throat or roof the mouth – something.

 

“Whoa!” a man's voice cried, suddenly appearing before the two of them in a flash of gold. Now blinded for a few seconds, Will and Crow remained motionless, afraid they were both dead. When their vision returned, they saw a young man with fluffy blond hair standing right in front of them with his arms raised up, creating a magical barrier made of light that was holding back the dragon.

 


End file.
